There is a clear distinction between the core and casual. The core has a graduated or elevated element of gaming which casuals (today) cannot exactly touch just yet. Games like Mario are beloved by the core because they grew up with him, but mario is responsible for the casual set forward, then comes Zelda ETC. Zelda definitely is one of Nintendos moderate/core titles. The mechanics are graduated from mario. Games like GT5, Demon Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed and so on so forth are core. As games get more complex today the action elements are being complimented by RPG style play. Take UFC for instance, that game is murder on a casual. That game demands patience in learning and if a casual starts playing button mash they are dead against a core gamer. Core games today also vary from niche to big budget, so you cant actually put label on the money spent on it. It can be everywhere from a low budget to AAA game. Take Tekken 6 for instance, with the mentality of working for both the core and the casuals. The core get  juggle combos and they balance it out for the casuals by giving them a boost in attack power when close to death at the hands of the winning opponent. Casuals can usually use this to get their last digit effort spam with Eddy Gordo in (LOL).

P.S.

Casual gamers dont game two hours a day, hence the name casual. That would clock them at around 14 hours per week, give or take. Thats actually moderate to core. The average core gamer can beat a thirty hour game in two weeks.

After reading like five pages of responses, it’s quite comical how some are you are making excuses for Microsoft.

Microsoft as a company needs to make money. So anything they can do to line their pockets with cash and please the stockholders more power to them. They can start making and selling women’s personal products or oil based wall paint for all I care. But if it serves their bottom dollar, then goody for them. So instead of catering more to the core and hardcore gamer which is the more dedicated userbase, Microsoft opted to cater to the more revolving greater casual gaming market. And according to past sales and sales trends on this site, they NEED to take this route to keep up. So, yes, what they are doing is good for themselves, but not good for the core and especially hardcore gamer. And that doesn’t mean core and hardcore gamers are stuck-up, self-righteous, or whatever. Different types of gamers like different types of games. It’s that simple. And in a world of limited that time and resources, consumers have to choose what’s best for them. The consumers have been choosing the Wii and PS3 more. Now, all these three console makers are ultimately in it for the money. But it seems that Microsoft is putting their bottom dollar above the consumer far more that Sony and Nintendo because it seems that Sony and Nintendo are catering more to the core and hardcore gamers more than Microsoft is.

So if Kinect makes you that happy and Microsoft is heading towards a more casual direction, then sure. Nothing wrong with that. But there in nothing wrong with core and hardcore gamers feeling less satisfied with the Microsoft Xbox 360 because of the relatively lack of offerings to them. Yes, Microsoft owes no one an apology, but consumers don’t owe anything to Microsoft as well.

Dude...the Sony move is basically like the peripheral of choice for the core. The thing has about thirteen buttons and still demands motion control. Its built for precision and accuracy instead of complete fun. For cores it has a high chance of upping the fun and lessening the complexities, but its the most core peripheral out of all the new ones. Sony is having a hard time understanding what casuals want. Thats why I am starting to grow fond of Sonys approach, there also needs to be a notice to all that Casual is not just about low budget and simple games, but also simplistic mechanics. If Sony made a marketable to the masses (key words) game where you could simply just use the camera the wand and just your body movement and bundle it with the move it could  sell. At this rate they should bundle two hot casual titles with the move. At this rate the PS3 is hotter than the Move, which is more than I can say for the 360. The Kinect is higher in demand than the 360 itself. Sooner or later you wont need a 360 to use it, because I believe Microsoft was speaking about having it connected to PC's as well.

Trying to figure out why MS should be sorry and can't think of one. If you don't like what they are doing, go somewhere else.

Exactly. In the end it all comes down to preference. They just trying to make money off of the casuals. They aren't getting my money, but its not exactly the wrong investment.

1 Ill go with the first one cause that is data that can be proven

2 There was only one late port and even that wasnt lazy. If you only own a WIi what difference does it make that another console gets the better version?? COD is COD. Either people with just a Wii dont care about COD or there are more multiplat owners than their are people with just a WIi and they are buying it for the HDs.

Casual and Core is the wrong terms to use, Wii sells family oriented affair much better than the other two. and the other two sell "hardcore" games better than Wii. What that means for MS??? THey have no Mario in their stable the closest thing they have is Halo and they have their fanbase. THe grandmas and soccer moms who bought 360 for Kinect are not just going to start playing something that isnt family friendly, at least the majority of them will not

while i enjoy'd Kinect at at MS E3 prees event. we all know its not for everyone and MS should not try to force kinect on the hardcore. its the wrong move to think that all 360 owners would ride the Kinect wave. its just not going to happen.

hell i fig that most would love the ghost recon integration using kinect as i thought it was awsume.

ok MS we get it? kinect works for everything! but not all of the hardcore gamers.

Amusing, somebody actually thinks Nintendo is offering more core games than Microsoft ^^

Microsoft going after the casual audience doesnt't really effect the "hardcore" gamer. As i said before, what big 360 exclusives do microsoft churn out outside of halo, gears, fable and forza?? During E3 microsoft never comes out and announces loads of 360 exclusives, they spend at least a third of their time showing multi-platform titles with 360 exclusive content and expanding their media service. They've placed a new focus on exapnding their kinect experiece which i think is  right thing to do but with the exception of lion head these new experiences are not being handled by the studios who develop the "core" 360 titles. And even then `Peter M already announced that fable 4 is in the works... forza is coming this year, gears this september,  Halo remake this fall, halo 4 next and i'm they'll announce 2-3 more core games due in 2012. How is this line up any worse than what they've had in the past??? The tuth is  the 360 has always been dominated with 3rd part titles, halo gears and fable are the only big IPs they've released so i dont understand why every1 is acting like they've lost out. The only real loss is for any fans of Rare (i am :(  ) becuase they seem to be the main force behind tryna create something relevant for kinect

wasnt there supposed to be a controller for this?? IMHO i think that would be a great idea, screw these fanboys who cry about copying, If they make a better product for it who cares??? Playing Halo or Gears like i play Killzone3 with MOve and RE4 with the Wiimote would be great, Im not seeing how they can accomplish that with just a camera